And, in an ideal world, future cultural projects would also be funded by gamblers, according to the chief executive of the Opera House, Louise Herron.

''Having a lottery would be fantastic but it would not be a simple matter,'' she said. ''I'd love to do it but it's very difficult to do.''

Last night the NSW government said it would investigate the suggestions from Ms Herron, who was speaking before the launch of a multimedia online documentary that traces the turbulent history of the building.

It includes how the Cahill government was struggling to raise enough money to build the Opera House, and it opted to establish the Opera House Lottery No.1 in November 1957 - running 496 lotteries that raised about $102 million.

Tickets were £5 each with a first prize of £100,000, according to Tatts's website.

In Britain, more than £29 billion has been raised by the National Lottery for ''good causes'' since the first draw took place in 1994. About $1.5 billion has been donated so far to the arts, according to the Camelot Group, the company that runs it.

But the NSW government sold NSW Lotteries Corporation to Tatts Group in 2010 for $1 billion.

Ms Herron said there was no point in lobbying ministers because Tatts had been granted an exclusive, 40-year licence to conduct public lotteries in NSW - excluding keno.

She also declined to give a wish list of projects that could be funded saying ''I just can't because it's a bad idea to put something out there that can't be achieved.''

But she admitted that the much-admired building was less than perfect. ''It's well-documented that a lot of things need to be fixed,'' she said.

''You can't have people in unsafe work environments whether it's stage machinery or the orchestra pit.''